Combined textile fiber laying and slashing apparatus



April l2, 1960 J. cocKER COMBINED TEXTILE FIBER LAYING AND SLASHINGAPPARATUS Filed May 16. 1958 United States Patent COMBINED TEXTILE FIBERLAYING AND SLASHING APPARATUS .lohn Cocker III, Gastonia, N.C., assignorto Cocker Machine and Foundry Company, Gastonia, N.C., a Ycorporation ofNorth Carolina Application May 16, 1958, Serial No. 735,789

'6 Claims. (Cl. 28-28) This invention relates to improvements in textileslashers, and more particularly concerns a combined textile ber laying(aligning) and slashing apparatus wherein the yarn bers are operatedupon to align them along the axis of the ends of yarn, after which theyarn is sized, and then dried.

It is an object of this invention to clean the yarn before it is sized.

It is another object of this invention to lay the yarn bers before theyarn is sized. By laying the yarn bers is meant the aligning of the yarnbers of each individual end of yarn along its axis.

It is another object of this invention to improve the opening of thewarp yarn, and to provide a better opening of the warp yarn than at thebust rods.

It is another object of this invention to remove lint, fly, dust, andthe like, from the yarn before it is sized.

It is another object of this invention to tack down the yarn bers afterthe yarn bers are aligned.

Other objects and advantages of this invention, including the simplicityand economy of the same, as well as the ease with which it may beadapted to existing in equipment, will further become apparenthereinafter and in the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a View in elevation of a combined textile ber laying andslashing apparatus constructed and installed in accordance with aproposed form of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the yarn ber aligning mechanism which isone element of this invention. Fig. 2 is taken as indicated by the linesand arrows II-II which appear in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged View of the yarn ber aligning mechanism with partsbroken away in order to illustrate important details;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of an end of yarn as it appears beforeentering the yarn ber aligning mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of an end of yarn after it has been actedupon by the yarn ber aligning mechamsm.

In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated inthe drawings, specic terminology will be resorted to for the sake ofclarity. However, it is not intended to be limited to the specic termsso selected, and it is to be understood that each specic term includesall technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner toaccomplish a similar purpose.

Turning now to the specic embodiment of the invention selected forillustration in the drawings, the overall arrangement of a combined berlaying and slashing apparatus for yarn is shown in Fig. l, includingyarn 11 which is collected from a beam creel (not shown) and is passedbetween yarn collecting bars 12, then to yarn ber laying mechanism 13,then through spray mechanism 14, and then through a Slasher 15 whichincludes a size box 16 and a drying section 17.

Yarn 11 comprises a plurality of ends 18 of yarn as is shown in Fig. 2,and each yarn end 18 includes a great number of bers :21 which arehaphazardly positioned, as shown in Fig. 4, before the yarn ends 18enter the yarn ber laying mechanism 13. After passing through ber layingmechanism 13, the yarn bers 21 are aligned along the axis of the yarnend 18 as is shown in Fig. 5.

Laying mechanism 13 includes a vacuum housing 22, having slots 23 and 24through which the yarn 11 passes. Rotatably mounted within housing 22are a pair of cylinders 25, 26 which have brushes 27 and 28 mountedthereon. Cylinder 26 -is provided with a drive shaft 31 which extendsthrough housing 22 and connects with drive motor 32. Cylinder 25 isprovided with a drive shaft 33 which extends through slots 34 in housing22; and is positioned relative to brush 28 by means of adjusting screws35, which are supported by ears 36 welded to the outside of housing 22.Shaft 33 is driven by motor 32 through gears 37 and 38.

Laying mechanism 13 also includes conduits 41 which connect the interiorof housing 22 to an exhaust blower 42 which discharges the lint, y dust,and the like, removed from yarn 11 by laying mechanism 13. Blower 42discharges such material into the mill dust collecting system (notshown).

The yarn 11 having been brushed and cleaned, and the yarn bers 21 havingbeen laid, the yarn 11 passes to spray mechanism 14 which sets (tacksdown) the aligned bers 21. Spray mechanism 14 includes a housing 43having slots 44, 45 through which the yarn 11 passes. Within housing 43there are mounted spray nozzles 46 which direct a liquid spray towardthe yarn 11 to set (tack down) the alignment of the bers 21. Spraymechanism 14 also includes a liquid supply reservoir 47, a pump 48, andpipes 50, 51 which connect nozzles 46, pump 48, supply reservoir 47, andhousing 43.

Size box 16 is of conventional design and includes a well containing asizing liquid or slurry, a steam jacket 53, a carrier roll 54, animmersion roll 55, and squeeze rolls 56. Drying section 17 is also ofconventional design and includes the drying cylinders 57.

In operation, warp yarn 11 is collected from a beam creel (not shown)and is passed between yarn collect- -ing bars 12 to yarn ber layingmechanism 13 where the yarn 11 is brushed and cleaned and the yarn bers21 are laid. Then the warp yarn 11 is passed through spray mechanism 14where it is subjected to a liquid spray from the nozzles 46 which tacksdown the bers 21. After this, the Warp yarn 11 is passed through aSlasher 15 where it is immersed in the sizing slurry, and then is passedthrough the squeeze rolls 56 and the drying section 17, which includes anumber of heated drying cylinders 57.

In the laying mechanism 13, the lint, fly, dust, and the like, areremoved from the warp yarns 11 by the brushing and are sucked outthrough conduits 41 and exhaust blower 42.

In the spray mechanism 14, the pump 48 pumps the spray liquid from theliquid supply reservoir 47 through the piping 51 to the spray nozzles46. The excess spray liquid drops to the bottom of housing 43 and iscollected and returned through the piping 50 to the liquid supplyreservoir 47.

The brushing of the yarn 11 before it is sized acts to clean the yarn,and to lay the yarn bers 21. This brushing also provides a betteropening of the warp yarn than at the bust rods.

The lint, y, dust, and the like, are removed from the Warp yarns 11 bybeing sucked out through the vacuum system and discharged into the milldust collecting system or similar device.

The spray 14 directs an atomzed spray of liquid which may be water, a'wetting agent, or a size solution, to

the yarn 11 after it has been brushed, and thus tacks down the yarn berbefore the yarn 11 enters the size box 16. This helps maintain thealignment which was imparted to the yarn bers by brushes 27, 28.

The brushes 27, 28 clean the yarn 11 and lay the yarn bers. Anotherresult of brushing is the improved opening of the warp yarn at the bustrods (not shown) which yis the result of the improved alignment of theyarn bers. The alignment of yarn bers lessens the tendency of the ends18 of yarn to become stuck together.

The brushes 27, 28 are preferably made of wire or nylon brush material.Their speed or rotation is controlled independently of the slasher 15and independently of the speed of the warp yarn. Brushes 27, 28 arepreferably rotated at a considerably higher rate of speed than the speedof the warp yarn 11. f

Excellent ber alignment is obtained by the brushing operation and thisalignment is made relatively permanent by the operation of dipping yarn11 in the size box 16.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herein shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred embodiment. Various changes maybe made in the shape, size and arrangement of parts. ments may besubstituted for those described herein, parts may be reversed, andcertain features of the invention may be utilized independently of theuse of other features, all without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of thesubjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. Combined textile ber laying and slashing apparatus for yarn,comprising brushing means for brushing and laying the yarn bers, sizingmeans comprising a container for heated sizing liquid and means forimmersing the yarn into said sizing liquid for absorption by the yarn,pressing means for squeezing out excess sizing liquid and for settingthe ber alignment imparted to the yarn by the brushing means, and dryingmeans for drying the yarn after it has been brushed, squeezed and sized.

2. Combined textile ber laying and slashing apparatus for yarn,comprising brushing means for brushing and laying the yarn bers, vacuumexhaust means for removing lint, dust, and the like, from the yarnbefore sizing, sizing means for sizing the yarn and forsetting the beralignment imparted to the yarn by the brushingmeans, and drying meansfor drying the yarn after it has been brushed and sized.

3. Combined textile ber laying and slashing apparatus for yarn,comprising brushing means for brushing and laying the yarn bers, spraymeans for contacting the yarn with an atomized spray of liquid aftersaid brush- Equivalent eleing for tacking down the yarn bers, sizingmeans for sizing yarn and for setting the ber alignment imparted to theyarn by the brushing means, and drying means for drying the yarn afterit has been brushed and sized.

4. Combined textile ber laying and slashing apparatus for yarncomprising a housing having a slot through which the yarn is passed, apair of rotatable brushes mounted within said housing for brushing theyarn bers, said housing having a shaft slot through which extends ashaft from one of the brushes, an adjusting screw connected between saidshaft and said housing for adjusting the distance between the brushes,drive means for simultaneously rotating the brushes, sizing means forsizing the yarn and for setting the ber alignment imparted to the yarnby the brushes, and drying means for drying the yarn after it has beenbrushed and sized.

5. Combined textile ber laying and slashing apparatus for yarn,comprising brushing means for laying the yarn bers, a spray housinghaving a slot through which the yarn is passed, a nozzle mounted withinthe spray housing through which an atomized spray of liquid is directedonto said yarn after said brushing for tacking down the yarn bers, aliquid supply reservoir, a pump, and a circulating system for saidliquid including piping connecting said nozzle, pump, reservoir, andhousing, sizing means for sizing the yarn and for setting the beralignment imparted to the yarn by the brushing means, and drying meansfor drying the yarn after it has been brushed and sized.

6. Combined textile ber laying and slashing apparatus for yarn,comprising a vacuum housing having a slot through which the yarn ispassed, a pair of rotatable brushes mounted within said housing forbrushing the yarn bers, said housing having a shaft slot through whichextends a shaft from one of the brushes, an adjusting screw connectedbetween said shaft and said housing for adjusting the distance betweenthe brushes, drive means for simultaneously rotating the brushes, vacuumexhaust means for removing lint, dust, and the like, from the interiorof said housing, spray means for contacting the yarn with an atomizedspray of liquid after said brushing for tacking down the yarn bers,sizing means for sizing the yarn after said spraying, and drying meansfor drying the yarn after said sizing.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 545,674Burns Sept. 3, 1895 1,458,473 Evans June 12, 1923 1,854,040 Junkers Apr.12, 1932 2,197,011 Ross Apr. 16, 1940

